Guidelines for CSSH Travel and the Travel Expense Approval Form
Travel is paid for from faculty or staff development funds when it is for a purpose essential to research, teaching, or student support, and when it is not supported by a grant or other external funding. (See below for guidelines on what constitutes an essential purpose.) In order to conserve the units’ and the college’s limited discretionary funds, if a purpose can be accomplished through a means other than travel—e.g., by meeting remotely with a colleague, or by obtaining materials online—please use that means.
Travel must be approved through the CSSH Travel Expense Approval Form before making transportation or hotel arrangements. After review by the unit head and the dean’s office Associate Dean for Administration and Finance (ADAF) or delegate, a request will be approved, rejected, or returned for further information. The expected response time is five business days (excluding weekends and holidays). Reimbursement cannot be guaranteed for travel that has not been pre-approved, and unapproved expenses charged to a Northeastern card may be classified as personal, requiring a reimbursement from the traveler.
Process Overview
A brief overview of the process is as follows:
- Travelers will complete the CSSH College Travel Expense Approval form and submit.
- An email will be generated to the Department Lead to approve the request.
- Once the Department Lead approves the request, an email is sent to the Dean’s Office (Associate Dean for Administration and Finance, Jim Rollins or his delegate).
- The Dean’s office will either Approve, Not Approve, or Request additional Information.
- An email will be sent with the Deans Office response to the Submitter and the Department Lead.
Essential travel purposes include:
- For tenured and tenure-track faculty members, travel associated with research, including meetings of conferences and professional organizations in which the faculty member has a role (presenting on or chairing or moderating a panel; participating in association governance); and travel to archives, fieldwork, and other research sites. Travel to conferences in which a faculty member is not taking a role, for meeting with collaborators, or for writing retreats will not ordinarily be covered.
- For full-time non-tenure-track faculty, including co-op faculty, travel to conferences and other professional organizations in which they have a role or that directly support their professional development for their current or future roles in higher education.
- For advising staff, travel to conferences and other professional organizations in which they have a role or that directly support their professional development for their current or future roles in higher education and travel as necessary to support student-facing operations (e.g., to NUin or Scholars sites for advising or recruitment). Advising staff should consult with their supervisor before submitting travel requests through the CSSH Travel Expense Approval Form.
- For administrative staff, travel that supports their professional development and identities. Administrative staff should consult with their supervisor before submitting travel requests through the CSSH Travel Expense Approval Form.
Other Guidelines
- For general guidance on reasonable nightly hotel expenditures, please consult the GSA per diem rates for domestic travel and Department of State per diem rates for international travel.
- Lodging will be approved for no more than one night before the beginning and after the end of an event.
- For guidelines on other reimbursable expenses, including allowable classes of air travel, please review and follow the University’s Policy on Travel and Expense Reimbursement including the Other Reimbursable and Unsuitable Expenses document.
- Travel on administrative business requested by a department, college, or other unit of the university will ordinarily be paid for by the requesting unit.
- The university requires registration of all work-related travel through the Travel Registry.
- Please check the university’s High-Risk Country List to see if you need to complete an Acknowledgement of Risk for Faculty and Staff Travel Form and/or request approval from the Global Safety & Security Assessment Committee (GSSAC) to travel to a suspended destination (6 weeks prior to planned departure) for insurance purposes.
More Information and Helpful Links
- Smartsheet College Travel Expense Approval Form – All travel requests will use the new CSSH College Travel Expense Approval form in Smartsheet. Please login using your Northeastern credentials.
- Smartsheet Travel Approval Tutorial – A brief tutorial walking through a sample request
- Descriptions of Various Fund Sources – Learn more about the different ledgers and funds